Aretha Franklin, The #26 Artist of the Rock Era, Part Four

 

(Continued from Part Three)

 

In 1985, the state of Michigan declared Franklin a "natural resource".  She scored a comeback with her album Who's Zoomin' Who, which yielded the #3 smash "Freeway Of Love".  Aretha won the Grammy for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for the song while the video was nominated for Best Female Video at the MTV Video Music Awards.

On the strength of that album, Aretha captured Favorite Soul/R&B Female Artist at the American Music Awards in both 1984 and 1986.  The title song reached #7.

 

 "Sweet Bitter Love" is another Franklin tune on which she shines brilliantly.

In 1987, Franklin was nominated for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance at the Grammy Awards for her cover of the Rolling Stones' classic "Jumpin' Jack Flash".

 Franklin teamed up with George Michael for the second #1 of her career, "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)", featuring the great sax of Clarence Clemons.

Aretha captured Grammy Awards for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for her album Aretha and Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals for her duet with Michael and she was nominated for Favorite Soul/R&B Female Video Artist at the American Music Awards.  The duet was the last Top 10 song in Franklin's career. 

In 1987, Aretha became the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and she received an honorary doctorate of music from the University of Michigan.  Franklin recorded her next album, One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism, at her late father's New Bethel church in Detroit in 1988.  She continued to be well recognized at the Grammy Awards, earning a statue for Best Soul Gospel Performance, Female for the album.

 "Through The Storm", Franklin's duet with Elton John, reached #3 on the Adult Contemporary chart.  

Franklin was nominated for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance at the Grammy Awards in 1990 for "Through The Storm", 1992 ("What You See Is What You Sweat") and 1994 ("Someday We'll All Be Free").

She received the Grammy Legend Award in 1991 and in 1994, the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, the same year she received Kennedy Center Honors.

In 1994, Franklin released the album The Very Best of Aretha Franklin, Vol. 1:  The 60's and The Very Best of Aretha Franklin, Vol. 2:  The 70's.  The former has sold over one million copies.  

 

In 1992, Lisa Fischer sang backing vocals for Aretha on "A Deeper Love".

Aretha was nominated again at the Grammy Awards in 1995 for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for "A Deeper Love".

Emerging talent Lauryn Hill wrote and produced "A Rose Is Still A Rose".  Forty years into her career, Aretha landed at #5 on the R&B chart with this great song.

In 1997, the New England Conservatory of Music bestowed an honorary doctorate degree upon Franklin.  In 1998, she substituted for Luciana Pavarotti and sang the opera aria "Nessun dorma" at the Grammy Awards show.  The following year, Aretha was nominated for Best R&B Album and Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for her work on A Rose Is Still A Rose.  

 "Holdin' On" is from the 2003 Gold album So Damn Happy.  Mary J. Blige joined Franklin on vocals.

In 2005, Franklin received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from U.S. President George W. Bush.  The following year, she was given an honorary doctorate in music from the Berklee College of Music.





 "Wonderful" is another outstanding song on the album.  Aretha proved she could scat with the best of them.

  

"A House Is Not A Home" was originally recorded by Dionne Warwick.  Aretha recorded it for the tribute album So Amazing:  An All-Star Tribute to Luther Vandross.

Aretha scored two more Grammy wins for Best Traditional R&B Performance for "Wonderful" in 2004 and "A House Is Not A Home" in 2006.  She sang The Star-Spangled Banner at the Super Bowl in 2006.  Her song "Never Gonna' Break My Faith" with Mary J. Blige, recorded for the movie Bobby, was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song.

When Aretha's duet with Fantasia ("Put You Up On Game") entered the R&B chart in 2007, it gave Franklin her 100th career R&B hit.  She is the only woman to accomplish the feat.

 

Aretha recorded "What Y’All Came to Do" with John Legend.

In 2008, she sang "My Country 'Tis Of Thee" at U.S. President Barack Obama's inaugural ceremony in 2008.  Franklin was named the 2008 MusiCares Person of the Year and won her 22nd career Grammy for Best Gospel/Contemporary Christian Music Performance (for "Blessed & Highly Favored" and "Never Gonna' Break My Faith".

In 2010, Aretha received an honorary degree from Yale University.  She founded the label Aretha's Records and released the album Aretha:  A Woman Falling Out of Love.

In 2012, Aretha received an honorary doctorate in music from Princeton.

Franklin signed a recording contract with RCA Records and released the album Aretha Franklin Sings the Great Diva Classics in 2014.  

Aretha received an honorary degree of Doctor of Arts from Harvard University.

On August 13, 2018 Aretha was gravely ill and under hospice care at her home in Detroit, Michigan.  The Queen of Soul succumbed to a malignant pancreatic tumor.  President Obama said she "helped define the American experience."

A memorial was held for Franklin at her home church, the New Bethel Baptist Church, on August 19.  Thousands paid their respects, including former president Bill Clinton, the Reverend Al Sharpton, Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson, Gladys Knight, Faith Hill, Chaka Khan, Jennifer Holliday and Queen Latifah.

Franklin has charted more hits than any female artist in history, 76, with 17 of those reaching the Top 10 and two going to #1.  Franklin has been dominant on the R&B scene, racking up 102 career hits with 49 Top 10's and 20 #1's.

Aretha has sold over 75 million records around the world.  She has won 18 Grammy Awards.

So dominant was Aretha among the R&B crowd that she won the Grammy for Best R&B Female Vocal Performance eight years in a row from 1968-1975 and 11-of-28 years from 1968-1995.  All told, Franklin has won 21 Grammy Awards from 28 nominations and three American Music Awards out of five nominations and was nominated for two MTV Video Music Awards and a Golden Globe Award.